The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Chris MartensonEconomic and market conditions are eerily like they were in late 2007/early 2008. Back then, everything was going well. Home prices were soaring. Jobs were plentiful.The cultural marketing machine was proclaiming that a new era of permanent prosperity had dawned, thanks to the steady leadership of Alan Gr...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Lawrie WilliamsInvestors may be nervous about their equity holdings. A number of analysts and commentators have been saying that equities are overbought and are due for a crash. Some of them have also suggested Bitcoin was in a bubble, and it has dived more than 50%.Is the gold the answer? The gold price has come back,...Read More

Stock Market Cap. Divided by GDPThe only time this indicator has been higher than today was during the Tech Bubble Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream; BMG Group Inc.Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Lance RobertsThere is a general consensus that the markets have entered into a permanently high plateau, coupled with an overwhelming sense of complacency: Debt doesn't matter as long as interest rates are low.But rising debt levels have a negative economic consequence. Today it requires $3.83 to create a Reagan-era $1....Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Howard KunstlerThe blow-off in the stock markets is supposedly America's consolation prize for what many regard as the bad acid trip of the Trump presidency. But it's just another hallucination, and while the markets have roared up, reality is at work, namely in the dollar and bond markets.A financial smash-up is the on...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by David StockmanWe are in record territory; the market has had 395 trading days since it's had a 5% drop, and that has never happened before in recorded history.The world's central banks had never dreamed of snatching $22 trillion of fiat credit from thin air prior to 1995, either. But in the 9 years since the financial c...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Craig HemkeLate Friday, reports hit Reuters that the CFTC would soon levy fines for spoofing (placing buy and sell orders with the intent to cancel them before completing the transactions) and price manipulation in the futures markets, and that has come to pass. Read the entire press releaseIn short, Deutsche Bank, UBS...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by SRSRocco ReportLeverage in the economic system has become so extreme that investors have no idea of the disaster in store during the next stock market crash. The 2008 crash was merely a warm up for the continued disintegration of the global financial system.While the US and global economies have continued as usual sinc...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Brian BainAvi Gilburt is a leading contributor on Seeking Alpha and one of 21 Seeking Alpha contributors who participated in the January 2018 DIY Investing Summit.Avi was asked what his long-term views are on gold. He said he believes we are on the cusp of a decades-long bull market.How big of a deal could this be? He c...Read More

Ounces of gold required to 'buy' one unit of the Dow JonesThe Dow / Gold Ratio has only been higher twice in the past 118 years.Sources: MeasuringWorth.com; Thomson Reuters Datastream; BMG Group Inc.Read More

Annualized Standard Deviation vs Downside Deviation Source: Thomson Reuters Datastream, BMG Group Inc.Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Bill BlaineThree things could see the current gentle slippage in bonds become an avalanche. The first is unanticipated inflation drivers catching markets unawares; the second is overly active central banks making policy mistakes; the third is contagion as rising rates trigger weakness in stock markets and a raging tide...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Tyler DurdenOver the past two years, in trying to justify the recovery narrative, central bankers and policymakers have been pushing long-term interest rates higher in order to reprice inflation expectations with one end goal: boost long-term rates while keeping the yield curve steep, and reflate away the record global...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Jim RickardsGold and silver coins were once legal tender in the US; let's hope it's not going the way of the Roman Empire in terms of a political decline coinciding with the substitution of base metals for gold and silver coinage.Silver is as much a monetary metal as gold, and has just as good a pedigree when it comes t...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Tyler DurdenDays after China's threat to slow/stop buying US Treasuries, and days before the launch of China's petro-yuan futures contract, Germany's central bank said it would include China's renminbi in its reserves.Hamburg: sculpture near office building of Deutsche Bundesbank in Hamburg city. Hamburg is the second l...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by SRSRocco ReportChinese demand for physical gold surged in 2017, while Americans went for cryptocurrencies and the stock market. Chinese citizens purchased the most gold bar and coin products since the same period in 2013, when they took advantage of huge gold market price selloff.Chinese gold bar and coin demand increas...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Jim RickardsBetween 2008 and 2017 the combined balance sheets of the central banks of the US, Japan and the Eurozone expanded by $8.3 trillion, while nominal GDP in those same economies expanded $2.1 trillion. Stocks, bonds, emerging-market debt and real estate have all been pumped up by money printing.This year is when...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Tom LuongoThe latest trade figures on Chinese/Russian trade should be a warning that economic sanctions don't work.China has created the first challenge to the petro-dollar oil trade. To break the world's use of the dollar as the sole settlement currency for oil required the right contract issued by a country that the U...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Adam TaggartOur economy is gamed to enrich those who run it, at the expense of everybody else.The 'money river' is the investment capital sloshing around the globe, birthed by the unprecedented money printing conducted by the world's central banks over the past decade. Since 2008, they've more than tripled their collect...Read More

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Alasdair MacleodThe dollar's hegemony is being directly challenged by China. An oil futures contract priced in yuan is expected to start trading in Shanghai, and China and Saudi Arabia have discussed trading oil for yuan.This marks the beginning of a new, post-dollar monetary era. The new yuan-for-oil futures contract i...Read More